Purse, handbag, or the like



July 11, 1944. A. P. cooLBRoTl-l 2,353,222

PURSE, HANDBAG, OR THE LIKEl Filed Deo. 13, 1941 2 `sheets-sheet 1nventor: v2@ L? LlgLLS R Cbolrol/U' Bu l t f I f a f Gttornegs.

July 1 1, 1944. A. P. cooLBRoTl-i I -PURSE, HANDBAG, OR THE LIKE 2sheets-sheet '2 Filed Deo. 13, 1941 Snoentor yus I? oolrofl/ GttorneuqPatented July 11, 1944 UNi'rEo STATES PATENT oFF-lcs PURSE, HANDBAG, 0RTHE LIKE Augusta P. Coolbroth, Springfield, Mass.

mmh-cation December 13, 1941, Serial No. 422,861

.2 Claims.

This Ainvention relates to containers, and particularly those of theclass of -pu-rses, pocketbooks, billfolds, land Womens handbags.

All Women who carry handbags will recognize the inconvenience and delayinvolved when it is necessary to extract, say, the vtwo or lmore cen-tsto pay for a newspaper, or the nickel or dime to pay a carfare, from acoi-n 'purse which "is either loose or secured Within the mainv'conipar'tmen't oi vher handbag. Not only is it 'necessary to open andlocate the coin Ipurse within the larger bag but often it 'is difficultto find and remove vthe 4particular coins 4desired from the coinpursewhen located. Furthermore, lthe available `space for coins in any of thecoin purses 'heretofore attached -to billfo'lds is rso small as toreally 'be of but little convenience. lMy present invention is"desig-ned'to overcome these several objections to the 'struc'- ture ofcoin purses and'billfolds as We'll as -to position these 'with referenceto a larger -ba'g so that ready access to 'them is possible. l

The objects of my invention 'therefore are, rst, 'to provide a coinpurse 'the contents of which are readily accessible; second, to soposition .this

improved coin purse with relation to a larger bag that it canbe reachedwithout opening the main body of the bag; third, to combine such 'a coinpurse with a bill compartment and such other compartments as maybedesired in which to carry keys, train or car tickets, stamps, shoppingcards, or other articles which are requently removed and replaced duringany single .day'fs v.activi-ties; and, fourth, to position such anassembly upon or Within a definite part of the largerbag so that .ali

may be readily reached Without opening the main compartment of thehandbag.

A further object .of .my invention is to manu.- facture such purses and.assembliesof the same one or more other pockets or compartments from aminimum of material, with a minimum of Waste, and a minimum .of.stitching or seeming.

In the accompanying drawings I have ill-s trated and .sha-ll.hereinafter describe certain i-llustrative embodiments ofthe novelfeatures fof my invention. Throughout specification and drawings like.reference numerals are employed to indicate corresponding `par-ts. Inthe drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side View of a handbag to an outer wall of which is .securedan assembly of my novel coin purse and -other pockets.

Fig. 2 is a plan of 4a blank of material v'from which the assembly 'ofIFig. '1 maybe developed.

Fig. 3 is a side View of a hand bag, an outer panel of which is partlybroken away to show another assembly of vmy coin purse rand otherpockets.

Fig. 4 is a plan View of `a vblank from which .the coin purse and pocketassembly of Fig. 3 may be developed.

Fig. 5 is a side view of a billfold including the novel features of myinvention.

Fig. 6 is a 'View of the same in folded position.

Fig. "7 isa view of a combination .coin purse and bill compartmentdeveloped from two of my novel pockets.

Fig. 8 is a coin purse comprising but one of my novel pockets.

Fig. 9 is a plan of an elongated strip of material that may be used tomake novel pocket or pockets and purse Wall or walls .in accordance withmy invention, and

Fig. 10 is a side View of 'one of my pockets designed for use as aholder for a package of cigarettes.

I 'shall iirst discuss my novel coin pocket as this is common to allother developments and all assemblies of my invention. This, in .itsmost simpliiied embodiment, is shown kin Fig. 8, and consists simply o'fa strip of material oil suitable length and width. This strip I isfolded on the lines IL-a. of Fig. 9, -and the two adjoining ends alare-slightly overlapped and joined together by .the single back centerseam A. The bottom .of the pocket is lclosed by the seam B. As shown theiiap F is cut out separately and stitched as indi- .cated at f along theback Wall of the `pocket over the center seam A (Fig. 8). When closedthis little purse lies substantially flat, but, as a result of itsfreedom from side edge stitching, may readily be cupped in one hand topermit access to its contents.

In Fig. 7, 'I show two of my pockets joined to gether by a common backseam A to form a coin pocket P and a Vbill compartment Pf, bothdeveloped from Athe continuous strip of Fig. '9. As each pocket has onlya single center seam, each readily opens up or cups independently of theother. If desired a ap F which will extend over both pockets maybeprovided.

In 'cases rWhere 'it is desired to have ready acces Figs. 1 and 3. Ifonly the coin vpurse of Fig. 8 is so used, it can be seamed totheadjacent panel of 'the handbag on the `seam A. If the. combination lofFig. 7 is so used, and it is wished to preserve the outwardly opening orcupp'ing characteristic of both pockets, the rear wall of Pf can becentrally stitched to the adjacent panel of the handbag. If it is notdesired to retain this cupping characteristic of the pocket Pf thispocket may be stitched on the line A3 to the adjacent panel of the handbag, in which case a flat pocket similar to the pockets I I, I2 and I3of Fig. 3 will be provided between the rear pocket Pr and the bag panel.

In Fig. V9, I have shown a strip of material for use in the formation ofcoin pockets to which flaps may be stitched. The length of the blank cutfrom the strip depends on the nature of the desired pocket or pockets.of the length intermediate the lines a' may be used to form the pocketshown in Fig. 8 while by utilizing a longer strip the combination purseof Fig. '7 may be established.

In Fig. 5, I have shown a billfold having a front wall 4 formed from astrip to be attached to the wall 4 having a ap F2. The wall Ia has anend portion 5 to be folded to bring its flap 6 in position to passoutwardly through the slot 52 to define the closed compartment 6.Stitching is indicated at 62.

If desired, a transparent window W may be provided for any selectedcompartment as shown in Figs. 1 and 5. If the bill compartment be ofgreater length than is required to accommodate bills, a row of stitchingD' will dene such an open windowed compartment at one end of the billcompartment.

The front walls of the compartment D, the coin purse P and the closedcompartment 6 together make up the front wall 4a of the billfold of Fig.5.

If desired, the entire assembly of Fig. 5 may be attached to the outsidewall of a hand bag as suggested in Fig. 3, or the wall of the hand bagmay be utilized as the back wall of the pockets, and only the front wall4il stitched or cemented along its edges to the main bag wall assuggested in Fig. 1 in which the assembly is concealed by the ap Illawhen the bag is closed.

As indicated above, all of these compartments may be developed from asingle strip, with the aps such as the flap F4 of Fig. 1 provided asadditional members stitched at the proper places to the top edge of thestrip. However, in certain cases, the members may be made of smallpieces, say of leather, and, therefore, in Fig. 2 I have suggested apattern which may be followed to produce the assembly of Fig. 1.

In this development of Fig. 2, the material which goes to make up thecoin purse P2 may either extend from the bottom of the panel 4b or bestitched thereto. It is folded on the lines Ps and the two flaps P'D areguided through the slot P2, turned outwardly and cemented or stitched asshown at S in Fig. 1 to the panel 4b.

I disclose in Fig. 3 a development of my invention in which the combinedpocket assembly is disposed beneath a panel IU on the outside of a handbag, access to the same being had through the opening I0 which is closedas by the Zipper Z. This assembly, like the others, may be de.'-

` veloped from a long strip of material or from an alternative patternsuch as is disclosed in Fig. 4. In either case, the material is foldedon predetermined lines Pd and the side and bottom edges joined andstitched or otherwise united. The assembly disclosed in Fig. 3 issomewhat similar to that of Fig. 5, but inasmuch as there is provided aconsiderable space between the back wall of the hand bag and the backwall 8 of the pocket assembly, there is an opportunity if desired tohave For example, a strip l a number of additional pockets, as forexample I I, I2 and I3, which are formed by the two rows of stitching 9.Within these compartments may be carried keys, tickets, stamps,cosmetics, pencils, or any articles to which frequent access isdesirable, as the user may decide.

The development of Fig. 3 has an advantage over that of Fig. 1 in thatwhen the Zipper" is closed the entire assembly is looked beneath the bagpanel IIJ. Furthermore, as the contents of the pockets in such aconstruction will tend to push inwardly into the main bag rather thanoutwardly, there is less distortion of the outer surface of the bag.However, if but one or a few vcompartments are desired, the arrangementof Fig. 1 is very satisfactory. Obviously, if desired an inner flap F3may be provided to close the top of the coin purse and bill section.

If desired, duplicates of the pockets P may be developed from the stripof Fig. 9 and disposed as is desirable in either the assembly of Fig. 1or that of Fig. 3. By utilizing a greater length of material than isrequired for the coin purse and omitting the bottom stitching B andsubstituting therefor a strap I4 as shown in Fig. u10, across the openbottom of the pocket, the pocket C may be used to hold a package ofcigarettes. Such a pocket can be attached to the wallof a handbag justas may be the pocket P.

In all embodiments of my invention, the several members may be joinedeither by stitching or by suitable cement. If the bags are made offabric, there is practically no waste-involved when the several partsare developed from the strip of Fig. 9. In such designs, as well asthoselof Figs. 2 and 4, a minimum of stitching is required, as the parts areassembled largely by folding on predetermined lines. It will alsobeapparent that a minimum of material and effort are required in theproduction of my s-ingle coin pocket of 8 which has definite advantageover the usual bellows fold which is usually provided to furnish thefullness necessary to accommodate coins within the usual coin purse suchas is attached to a billfold.

Other modifications in the design of the blanks from which my pocketsare developed, the number of pockets, and in the arrangement or assemblyof the same with respect to each otherand the larger container withwhich they may be combined, may all be resorted to without departingfrom the spirit of my invention if within the limits of the appendedclaims.

lWhat I therefore claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A handbag comprising a side wall, a panel secured to said side wallalong its side and bottom edges, said panel being slotted vertically onits median line, a member extending downwardly from the bottom of saidpanel and being folded on said bottom line up over said panel saidmember being folded transversely to define a front wall and two backwalls, the lateral ends of said back walls being inserted through saidslot in said panel and secured to the inner surface thereof.

2. In a handbag, a panel having a vertical slot, a member, said memberbeing folded transversely to dene a front wall and two back walls, thelateral ends of said back walls being inserted through said slot in saidpanel and secured tothe inner surface thereof and the bottom edge vofsaid member being connected to said panel.l

AUGUSTA P. COOLBROTH.

